What is Content Marketing and Why Should you Care?

Marketers across the globe are beginning to understand that traditional forms of marketing are becoming less and less effective.

Engage your target audience with your brand

Today we cover this modern marketing method and discuss ‘what is content marketing’, ‘why does it exist?’ and ‘why should your business care?’. Content marketing is not about direct or outbound sales and marketing, it’s a form of marketing designed to attract customers to you.

Crucially, the process serves to inform prospects by providing information that enables them to understand, like and trust you enough to do business with you.

Essentially, content marketing is the art and strategy of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is therefore, non-interruption marketing.

Content Serves Many Goals – But Who’s it for?

As you can see from the list below, it’s not always about making a sale. Often it’s about creating awareness, establishing trust or providing information in the right way and at the right time to move a prospect closer to a purchase.

Benefits of Content Marketing:

Brand awareness

Nurturing leads

Supporting audience interaction

Extending and improving customer service

Retaining and enhancing customer loyalty

Up/cross selling of services to existing clients

Building brand advocates, subscribers and supporters

As with any form of marketing, these efforts can be measured, analysed and tweaked to improve their impact and your ROI.

Content Marketing Matters: Pros and Cons

Your business might already be marketing in the digital space via organic, paid and social media channels. However, content can and should form a pivotal role for your online marketing strategy as a whole.

When implemented correctly, Content Marketing is a win-win situation for your business and your audience alike, but there are a few caveats to be aware of:

Pros:

A reliable source

With time and the ability to accurately communicate your message comes a following, support and advocates of your brand’s information.

Positive response

Meaningful content will more often than not evoke an emotional response. If people find your content inspiring you build their loyalty.

Virality and share-ability

Valuable and reliable information increases the likelihood of people not only visiting but sharing your content too. This in turn leads to the possibility of trending and even going viral.

Cons:

Complexity

It’s not easy. Throwing a few words at the page isn’t going to cut it. Content Marketing is anchored by a solid strategy with a deep understanding of your target audience and delivers an asset that resonates with them.

Initial costs

the process of defining a well thought out campaign and delivering a strategy that hits each detail is often complex. Moreover, it is often a time consuming project as well. Communicating the value is often difficult.

Traditionalists

Many organisations find it a struggle to implement and apply the right resources to content. This is generally because it goes against the grain of the marketing of old.

Measure or fail

A strategy for content is not complete without measurement. If you don’t know your metrics, why you’re undertaking the campaign in the first place, then your Content Marketing is destined to fail.

Content Marketing is huge business in 2015 and vital for both small and large companies. Regardless of you business industry or niche, there are always angles to forge great content from. If you’re not on the Content train yet then your competitors are riding off ever further into the sunset.